


Calamity

by sweetmusings



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Voldemort Wins, Captivity, Character Death, F/M, Flashbacks, Healing, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Past Abuse, Past Relationship(s), Past Violence, Prison, Psychological Drama, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-03-08 05:01:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18887692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetmusings/pseuds/sweetmusings
Summary: Written for the Hermione's Nook Rare Pair Fest.Hermione has been held captive for what feels like a lifetime, when she meets Remus Lupin again.Will they both be able to heal by each other's side?'Peering at her less-frantic form just for a moment, he saw that tears were still falling.He licked the tears away.I will save you from this hell, I promise.'





	Calamity

**Author's Note:**

> I greatly enjoyed writing a different pairing to my usual go-to's, it was at times challenging, but was overall exciting and refreshing. I would like to thank ArielSakura for beta-ing my work.

 

i

Hermione stared at the dirty floor in her confined cell. Her mocha eyes had once shined with hope and confidence for the future, but they were now as dull as mud. She shivered. Pulling what little clothing she had left to her as she continued to stare about listlessly, her eyes stayed open wide as they once again took in the surroundings of her lodgings. She chuckled humorlessly.  

There was not much to see or to feel, not really. On the contrary, she was struggling to make out the entrance to the crudely made room, to begin with. Pressing her palms flat to the dingy floor, she could feel dirt occasional dips in the floor, and worryingly, some kind of dried, crusted substance. Perhaps...blood? She shuddered. Various scenarios flooded Hermione’s mind; had one of the last prisoners had their head repeatedly bashed against the floor until they died? Had they been assaulted? Crucio’d? Raped? She wouldn’t put any of those possibilities past Fate, for it had played a truly wicked game with her. Why else would she have ended up here, in this barren, desolate place? Alone. 

One thing she was certain of, however, was that there were many indents in the floor. Hermione reasoned to herself that it was a result of many prisoners and their footsteps, she made herself believe that. Despite any evidence to prove her conclusions.

Realistically? Hermione simply did not want to think about a likelier scenario any longer. No more. So she shut the world out as best she could.

And let her mind drift. It felt like a murky, foggy cloud had come to settle in her mind, floating around her brain and entering her thoughts, corrupting them, warping them- 

It became increasingly harder to muster up even an ounce of happiness.

Those days with Harry and Ron in Hogwarts chatting about essays and about their dreams. Their wants for the future, among other more frivolous things. How they would sit on the grass overlooking the lake. Laughing with one another at their silly antics. They seemed like a lifetime ago now and she bowed her head as a few tears escaped her eyes.

She slammed her fists into the floor of her prison and bit her tongue; she wouldn’t give the guards who occasionally patrolled this area even a bit of satisfaction. It simply wouldn’t do, after all. 

No, it certainly wouldn’t.  

Suddenly, she shook her head - it was not just her who had suffered - and perhaps continued to suffer.

‘Stop being selfish, Hermione…" she muttered. Slapping at her cheek to snap herself out of her self-indulgent thought process. Touching her cheeks with her fingertips, she smiled bitterly; they were warm. The Death Eaters may have taken away her sanctuary but they hadn’t taken away her senses, her feelings - that which made her Hermione. Not while she still  _ felt. _

ii

Occasionally, she wondered how long she had been held there. Having no way to tell naturally, she had used the meals to guide her. But in time, the gaps in between food increased, and she had to abandon them as a timekeeping method. With no moon in her windowless cell, there was no other way for her to know how many minutes, hours, days, months, dragged passed. How much time was stolen from her. 

She lost weight. As it dwindled, her will to fight slowly died. She couldn’t even muster the will to feel concern for her situation anymore.

At one point - Hermione could only attempt to guess when - she was roughly handled and thrown into a different cell. Left, straight on, up, right... the route that was taken became too complicated and in the end, her mind shut off. It went on forever in Hermione’s opinion and she felt no pressing need to remember in any case. 

‘’Hey, mudblood. We’re here, wake up!’’ The mystery guard jabbed her in the stomach, roughly. ‘’Mudblood!’’ Then, a wand pressed into her neck and a stinging hex followed, sizzling her flesh.

Hermione twitched and her back arched. Her vision - no, her entire world swam, the edges becoming tinged with murky black and red tones. Again, it felt like time stretched beyond her reckoning. It always felt this way. She became aware of the blooming pain that wracked her throat. It felt as though the pain from the stinging hex had gone through her skin and bone and settled in her insides; the delicate skin inside her throat felt as though it had been shredded. Merlin knew how her vocal cords were doing. Only then did the guard laugh, and she realised she had been screaming.  

She couldn’t bring herself to glare in the man’s direction, and so she settled on thinking about different ways in which she could kill him, instead.

’’That’s better! Did you have a nice sleepy-weepy, bitch? The Dark Lord felt you deserved… different accommodation, because you’ve been such a good girl in your time here.’’ He snorted.  _ Oh please, nothing would be better than anything in this hell-  _ her thoughts were interrupted as she was thrown into the cell like a rag doll. 

Hermione screamed again, further pain erupting in her damaged vocal cords and from her body as she made heavy contact with the wall. 

She slid down, motionless but very much still conscious. Well, perhaps not very much. Who was she kidding, no, she was barely hanging on - adrenaline was her bodily fuel at this point.

For fuck’s sake, why couldn’t she just die already, this was really getting old. A shallow, barely discernible laugh bubbled from her mouth.

She still had her sense of humour, some things never changed, it seemed.

The only thing Hermione could hear was the sound of the guard pacing.Evidently, it seemed as though he was waiting for something. Or someone. Eventually, a second set of footsteps could be heard if she really focused on her hearing and not the ringing in her head. The low series of steps, slightly out of sync with each other, had set her nerves on edge. The silence that came when they stopped, frayed those nerves even more. Hermione sussed that the guard and this newcomer couldn’t be far away, perhaps no more than ten or fifteen steps away. Lying there, broken on the floor from where she’d been thrown, she shuddered.

‘’If you continue to be…good, we might even send one of our medi-witches to heal you.’’ The newcomer spoke, his voice low and carrying. 

So, there really had been a second person, she had not imagined it. That was good. It meant she hadn’t lost her sanity. Yet. 

Fighting the urge to react as her mind worked overtime to put a face to the person who had just spoken, her eyes snapped open. Staring stonily at the floor, she finally remembered who it belonged to. 

Dolohov. 

That bastard. How she wished she’d had the courage to kill him back at the Ministry.

‘’Tch, the bitch isn’t saying anything. How boring. Maybe we should look at giving her to Bella for a few days; she’d love to go at her-’’ 

She couldn’t place this voice, which annoyed her to no end. 

‘’Oh just shut it already,’’ Dolohov spat back. "I’ve already requested that I get to play with her for a bit, I never did get to finish my game back then, she owes me." 

Ugh, so he did remember. That fucker.

“You’re still hung up over that? Yeesh, go grab one of the other mudbloods or toys to play about with for a while…’’

She bit her lip. Hard.

‘’They’re all so boring though, the last few we have are all loose and no fun to use anymore…’’

Her lips trembled as blood ran down them, only to drip on the floor.

‘’I bet this mudblood would make the most wonderful noises and cries, she’s so plain and fiesty; I’d be willing to bet she’s still tight as fuck down there. Oh, I’d love to be the one to break her in, feel her seize up as I take her. So...many...possibilities…" 

Her face scrunched up in mortification and anger as she tried to block Dolohov’s grating, disgusting self-serving monologue out.

‘’Hah, yeah you’re probably right on that, mate. Do I get to watch?’’

‘’Fuck off, keep your voyeuristic urges to yourself or better yet, go grab someone else!’’

‘’You’re no fun, Dolohov…"  

The sound of footsteps and chatter suddenly became quieter and it was a relief to Hermione, who decided to stay still and assess the condition of her body before even considering moving so much as a finger. She was certain that she had a concussion, bruised ribs. She was vaguely aware of blood running down her face but that was of little concern to her. 

Only when she could hear no kinds of movement did she gently move until the pain was more bearable. Now in a relatively comfy position, she managed to fall into a scattered sleep. 

iii

_ ‘’Ron, that plan is suicidal, there’s no way that it would possibly work!"  _

_ ‘’Mia, it’s the best plan we have! We’ve exhausted all of our other options! Harry mate, you agree with me, right? Back a guy up? Most of our friends have either been changed by life-altering curses, or thrown six feet under!" He chuckled.’’ _

 

_ The sound of it reverberated to everyone in the room; it haunted Hermione. It seeped into her pores, played over and over in her head that night.  _

_ Across the table from the pair, Harry sat there, his bloodshot eyes weighed down by the darkest of circles. "...Mia. He’s right. We are getting increasingly desperate as each day goes on. I wouldn’t be surprised if we fucking fail this shitstorm of a war, the way we’re going. Ron...you have my approval to go ahead with the plan."  _

_ It had been the beginning of the end; a lot of casualties had taken place on their side. Granted, the opposing side had taken hits, but it didn’t make theirs feel any better.  _

_ Their optimism was waning. _

_ Ron had come back, but he wasn’t the same man anymore. He was bitter, angry; he’d lash out at the most mild of things. In short, the whole house was becoming a series of rooms seemingly covered in eggshells. Sometimes, Hermione had wondered if it was just her who felt that way. _

_ Fighting the urge to say to him that surely they had all known it was a nightmarish idea, she walked into the kitchen area. Getting herself a bottle of Lambrini from the fridge, she opened it and threw the lid into the bin. Taking a swig, she let her thoughts wander. She still hadn’t said anything to the eerily silent redhead who has sat at the table they had conversed at just a few days ago. Her thoughts were clearly heading toward grim territories.  _

_ Taking another long swig, her taste-buds sang as the sweet cherry flavour hit them. Strongly. Proceeding to place the bottle on the side, she took another look at Ron.  _

_ ‘’Ron, I-"  _

_ ‘’Shut up! Just shut the fuck up, you aren’t my mother, so just...shut up, Hermione!"  _

_ She shuddered and closed her eyes in angry resignation as he punched the wall near to her. What a mistake this had been. Looking into Ron’s eyes, she all but recoiled. The warmth in his eyes was no longer present, there was nothing but bitter anger left. The anger which had warped Ron’s face terrified and worried her all in one, it was a horrible combination that sent what felt like ice down her back. _

_ ‘’Always so stuck up, thinking you know everything! Such an annoying bitch, you are!"  _

_ Again and again, the bloodied fist hit the same spot by her face. Spit landed on her face.  _

_ ‘’Lost for words, are you!? I bet you wanted to gloat and tell me that I fucked up! After all, Harry may not have said anything, but his face told me that too! So tell me, why do I have to put up with you! Why can’t you just piss off and leave - me - alone!"  _

_ ‘’I’- Her eyes widened and she found herself spiralling downwards, closer and closer to something - a panic attack, perhaps?  _

_ ‘’SHUT. UP! For once in your fucking life just stay quiet!"  _

_ His fist was getting closer and closer. This time, toward her face. It was strange. The moment seemed to change, every millisecond of it burned into her corneas and memory.  _

_ Mere moments before Ron’s bloody fist made contact with her face, he was sent flying backwards into a wall.  _

_ Whipping around, Hermione saw Harry in the doorway, his face strained with anger. His emerald eyes were darkened with the taint of it, but she saw something in him that hadn’t been present in Ron’s face; hurt and worry. It made her heart clench painfully and she realised she was shaking in relief.   _

 

_ It was then that it hit Hermione just how much things had changed.  _

 

_ "H-how much did you....’’ _

_ ‘’Everything, Mia. I heard everything. I was as quick as I could, I-"  _

_ Maybe she was not the only person who felt as though they’d been surrounded by eggshells. _

_ Everything seemed distorted. "Ah. I see..." Even her speech sounded off. Or was it her hearing that was off? Something was wrong. No, everything was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong! Her mind was blank; fragments of thoughts, anything - but nothing came to mind. She shuddered and wrapped her arms tight around her person. _

_ Ron, he wasn't the same man, not anymore...  _

_ Wrong! Everything was wrong, and broken, and so, so fucked up.  _

_ That was the last thing she thought of as she sunk to the floor in a faint.  _

iv

Jolting awake, she winced as the insides of her head seemed to wobble, and a sharp pain bloomed in her forehead. 

‘’Ah good, I am glad you’re awake." Looking around, Hermione could make out Remus’ gaunt features; his eyes were focused intently on her. She imagined it would be pleasant were they somewhere else, anywhere but here, however, these were the circumstances they'd been dealt, forced to handle by the fates. Had Hermione felt up to it she would have snorted. 

‘’Remus... You t-too?" She coughed and coughed and held herself tight as her raw vocal cords left her wanting to scream. 

‘’I…. no idea you were ca-caught..." Another cough, and then moans of agony. 

‘’How long have…. you been here? Are you-" Remus put his hand up to stem the flow of her questions. 

‘’Hermione, please. Save your strength. Yes, sadly I was found whilst on a mission to find the werewolf packs rumoured to be taking shelter in Alaska, Somehow they tracked my magical signature, someone must have slipped through the cracks. I’ve been here for nearly a year, but I’m still holding on. I’m...for less of a better word, surviving. I would not say I’m  _ okay _ , however. I can feel myself cracking every month. Like I’m slowly going mad,’’ Remus laughed, "perhaps I already have, without the Wolfsbane potion regime from Severus to keep me sane." He sighed wistfully, his expression was bitter. 

Hermione shuddered as she sat there against the wall of her new cell. At least she could _see_ better here. A lone torch was left on the wall, charmed never to extinguish. Whereas hers had no source of natural - or spelled - light, there was a window here, charmed to let in the light of the waning moon. How...odd. After all, she vaguely knew they were miles underground, how could the moon possibly shine down here? In this room? 

Hermione deduced that it must have been down to some powerful spellwork, a mockery of the real moon, crafted to mimic the real one and its lunar cycle…. She would have found it interesting otherwise, but now…. Perhaps it, and the light source was all there as a security measure so that Death Eaters would be aware when the full moon hit by the sounds of cracking bones and snarls. 

Hermione’s thoughts and observations momentarily ceased off as she became aware of her raw back. It felt incredibly tender; the cold sensation of the bricks scraping against her open flesh might have been soothing, all she could think of was how much it  _ hurt.  _ Her throat burned, she felt done. If only she had her wand. 

In the cell with Remus, she was too muddled to even consider Occluding. 

Time reared its head and trickled by, the pair were too lost in their own minds to initiate conversation often. Perhaps it was just as well. At least inside the confines of thought and imagination, they could lose themselves and think themselves in different places. Anywhere other than the dank prison they each had reluctantly come to call home, they both mused. 

Remus barked with low laughter at the irony of everything, the sound echoing around the dank cell. 

Again, time trickled by. Hermione wished she had a watch. Wished she knew wandless magic so she could use basic charms; she’d give anything at this point to be able to feel tidbits of magic spark through her and do  _ something.  _ Anything. She gritted her teeth and then worried her bottom lip, lost in thought.

‘I… wish someone would come, anyone…" Hermione whispered forlornly. 

‘’Hermione," Remus began, his voice was croaky, rough with signs of disuse. "Whatever you’re thinking in that head of yours, I’ll say this. Stop- stop thinking of rescue. It isn’t going to happen. No-one is going to come...’’

Hermione’s eyes snapped up to meet Remus’ own.

‘’What...how can you say that?" She challenged.

She sighed when he didn’t reply and shook her head.

‘’You can’t just… lose faith, Remus." Hermione replied, looking up into his eyes. The words felt wrong in her mouth; they tasted like ash. Was this what resignation felt like. Having to admit that everything was failing, and falling around her? That their optimism was only going to get them so far, and they’d all been fools to think otherwise? She bit her tongue, holding back the urge to scream in frustration. She knew it would feel satisfying, but it wouldn’t solve anything. Not a thing.

‘’- wish it had never come to this, that I’d be in this situation, that you, my former student, are here too. It’s all such a sorry affair, a mess of a life." 

‘’If only I still had one of those coins," Hermione muttered.

Silence reared its head and surrounded the pair, its tendrils working their way into each of them; their thoughts and their throats, their mouths... 

Late one night, only one word was said from Hermione, just one single bit of crude language; but Remus felt it aptly summed up everything that had happened to them so far.

‘’Fuck." 

And with that word uttered, Hermione started to laugh.

v

Sometime, further into their captivity, a loud series of knocks jolted Remus and Hermione out of their broken sleep.

‘’Come on, the Dark Lord has requested your presence. And if I were you I wouldn’t want to try his patience." 

Initially, neither of them moved, or so much as looked at the Death Eater who was stood in the doorway. Angered, the man shot stinging hexes at the duo.

‘’Oh...you might not want to test MY patience either. Now then...get up!" He snarled, spit visible as he did so.

Hermione cringed whilst Remus looked away angrily. 

‘’Get...up! Cr-" He was interrupted by the sight of both prisoners standing up, of that Granger bitch yelling.

‘’That’s enough! No more, we’ll do as you say, just stop hexing us!" Hermione wailed, her nerves singing and screaming in a cacophony of pain. 

The man smirked. "That’s what we like to hear, here. Now then…" 

He muttered incantations foreign to both Hermione and Remus' ears, and some kind of cuffs bound each of their wrists together behind their backs; the pair were joined by a single silver glowing thread, preventing separation or fluxes of magic. And with that, the trio began to walk, the Death Eater leading the way.

Leading the way would be a kind way to put it however, Hermione likened the situation to being yanked about roughly by a silver cord of dark magic. 

Remus walked close to Hermione, wanting to offer some kind of familiar comfort to her, but what could he really do? Sighing silently to himself, he carried on.

Eventually, they came to a towering pair of doors, each one embellished by shining silver dark mark emblems; red gems in the eyes the only difference and Hermione shuddered when she saw them looking back at her; almost as if they were alive. For all she knew, perhaps that was the case here. She swallowed nervously.

Hermione and Remus stood for what felt like a very long time, their legs trembling with the exertion; due to their time being held captive each had lost significant muscle tone. Just as Hermione was starting to wonder just  _ what  _ was going on, why they had been brought into this particular room, dark smoke appeared where the vacant throne was at the end of the room. 

When the smoke cleared, the pair’s hearts dropped and Hermione could swear she felt her heart rate rise as she saw blood-red eyes staring at her, no,  _ into  _ her and she honestly felt as though she had been violated at that moment. 

Hermione shrieked, reacting without thinking and Voldemort sighed, rolling his eyes. 

Well-fucking-done Hermione, how very Gryffindor of you, oh yes...Merlin. He really was ugly as sin, Hermione thought.

‘Hello, wolf. And....the famous mudblood...ah yes… I have heard much about you two in your endeavours to bring creatures together, to bring forces together, to bring me down from my throne...to defeat me… Lord Voldemort…" He took a breath and drummed his wand on his thrones’ arm-rest.

Remus snarled whilst Hermione spat in Voldemort’s direction.

‘’How dare you-you vile creature! I ought to crucio you for-’’ 

That’s enough, Bella… I see she has...bravery in her. Yes, a true Gryffindor indeed," he mocked. Hermione continued to stare defiantly at him.

‘’Now, I imagine you’re wanting to know why I have had you two summoned here tonight, am I right?" He asked, his left hand fussing his precious Nagini who hissed in contentedly. 

‘’It has crossed our minds funnily enough, yes… Tom." Hermione smirked with bravado. Inside however, she was feeling a familiar sense of dread spreading throughout her body. It was far too damn familiar nowadays. She wondered if her act was even convincing; she could only hope so.

‘’Humph, silly girl," he waved away Bellatrix and Rabastan who looked ready to kill there and then, never breaking eye contact with Hermione. 

‘’You see,  _ girl,  _ my wonderful Death Eaters have been allowed to put quite the show on for you tonight, I am not the only one here who believes you will both find this… an enlightening thing to witness…" Voldemort trailed off, his deep laughter shaking Hermione to her core; she definitely wasn’t acting now. Remus looked about worriedly; not sure how to take the situation that was currently unfolding. 

Everything was eerily silent at the moment and they were both unnerved by the grins which adorned the faces of the maskless Death Eaters.

vi

Remus was under the impression that they were trying to goad him and Hermione. Glancing in her direction, he saw she was also trying to gauge the situation as well, her eyes were narrowed ever so slightly. If Remus had not been around her so much since she was thrown into his cell, he likely would have missed the fact. He urged her to keep silent; she had to keep silent, for her sake...and for his.

 

The spell of quiet was broken by Voldemort coughing; another Death Eater passed him an ornate silver cup and it the silence resumed. But, not for long.

 

Red eyes surveyed the room and his eyes briefly narrowed at the unspoken exchange between his captives. Thinking that skimming the forefronts of their minds would be quite the idea at this point; he opted to do just that.

 

The shaggy brown haired werewolf would do for now… Red eyes bored into the visible ones of Remus' own; he was focused on Hermione, that it was simple to do so.

 

_ We musn’t provoke him...mustn’t do anything out of the ordinary… perhaps in time, we may be let go if they can’t get anything out of us...or perhaps… we can even organise an escape…  _ Hmm, interesting. Further thought-skimming revealed that the werewolf, no, Remus, had also sussed out that there was little chance of outside help as well, now that was very intriguing. Very intriguing, indeed.

 

Voldemort leaned back, deep in thought. Nagini coiled around her Master’s leg and slithered up onto his lap; nuzzling into him. 

 

He decided to use legilimens on the younger one, that pesky Mudblood, Granger, next.

She had nothing to speak of in terms of protection; her thoughts were somewhat disjointed but it was easy for him to glean that she was slowly breaking; that she wanted out and to see Potter and that ginger-haired person again… Her parents and… That was enough for now. It was what everyone wanted, after all.

 

Having done all he currently needed to do, he leant forwards; his hands clasped together and his head resting on top; hungrily devouring every moment of the scene before him.

 

Nodding slightly at Rookwood who was at the back of his gathered Death Eaters; he allowed a smirk to play about his face. Granger and Lupin were now sat on the floor, having given into the tremors that their legs dealt them a short while ago. ‘’Did you both...perhaps suspect I would...let you two go?" He asked aloud. He did not get any verbal reaction, but their faces were extremely pale which spoke volumes.

 

‘’And...did you think that...you could seriously...escape, from me? Hmm? I’ll have you know that this place is cloaked with ward upon ward… along with some, additional surprises… So, do think twice before staging escape attempts, yes?" He winked at both Hermione and Remus, the hissing of syllables quite prominent.

Remus stared stubbornly at the various patterns adorning the dirty floor whilst Hermione just looked...lost. 

‘Well, well... even if we did... where would you go?”

Remus' head snapped up. "The fuck do you mean, where would we go?!" He all but yelled.

‘’There’s nowhere to go, all of your safe houses are gone! All your little friends, gone… Harry Potter… gone…" Voldemort’s voice had an almost soothing sing-song quality to it, and Hermione felt well and truly sick.

When his words registered, Hermione’s eyes widened dramatically, and she bit her tongue to keep silent. But she couldn’t help the single choked whimper that escaped. 

‘’As if he is gone! Harry’s not weak, like you, Tom...Voldemort! And yes, I dare speak your name. I am not afraid of you!’’

‘’Tch, I’ll be gracious and let that one slide, girl.’’

‘’Oh my….you didn't know? Potter. Is. Dead... Our Dark Lord verified everything himself!" Yelled another voice. 

A strangled series of noises came from Hermione who currently seemed unable to string coherent words together, let alone sentences.

Meanwhile, Remus' eyes were changing, becoming more amber... 

Voldemort stood up and appraised the goings on with a cruel smirk on his face. Drawing his wand from within his pocket, he flicked it, silently casting a shower of sparks into the air. A clear signal for something to begin. 

‘’It is showtime, everyone… Pay attention now, you wouldn’t want to miss the events now, especially since some of us have front row seats…" Voldemort’s smirk lessened until he adopted a neutral expression, his eyes lingering on the chained pair who sat down on the dirty ground of his throne room. Sitting back down onto his throne, he waited. It was only a matter of time, now.

‘’Hermione, I-" 

‘’Remus, wha-’’

Both had spoken at the same time, and just as they were about to ask one another to repeat themselves, they were interrupted.

Out of nowhere, a crack jolted everyone out of their musings, their thoughts or their spoken words and then Voldemort smiled. It was cruel and warped, his teeth were yellow and stained, the shadows from the room he was situated in meant that his face really had been left looking like a caricature of evil. 

Suddenly - Harry’s body appeared and fell from the ceiling, still and unmoving as it hit the floor. It was riddled with snake bites, scorch marks and… Hermione immediately realised that Rigor mortis had set in; she felt herself go green.

Time seemed to stop as the blood drained from Hermione's face. Her heart all but ceased beating temporarily and she started to shake. Faint. She felt faint. The room was spinning and whirring and everything did not sound right and -

The shackles had little give; whilst they moved, they ultimately stopped her reaching for Remus' hand in support; to run over to Harry, too... Well, even if she could have done so she was uncertain as to if that were possible at the current moment in time. 

Fuck, where had things gone so drastically wrong...

Meanwhile, Remus' last semblance of self-control lost against its battle against the wolf clamouring inside; the wolf’s claws eager to scratch up and around until it was released. 

Hermione’s eyes dimmed but she watched out of the corner of her eye as Remus fought valiantly to keep control. She could see him slipping - slipping and fighting to stay sane, and she understood oh how she understood because she was going through the same thing, she forgot how long she’d been stuck here and she could feel his panic and terror and anger and a rage so profound every one of her hairs stood on end. She whimpered. 

A howl rent the air. She felt the floor rumble as Remus fought his magical restraints, the wolf was fighting for control, she could tell. And if this carried on for much longer, it was likely that the wolf would be all that was left of Remus. 

That simply would not do.

But then - a clink. A clatter. Snapping - ringing. It reverberated around the walls of the room and Hermione grimaced. Remus' restraints had broken.

‘’Remus!" She cried, unable to do anything as she was still trapped, stuck in this horribly grisly position, unable to move and wanting to scream.

‘’Someone stun him! One might not be enough for the fucking werewolf!’’ Yelled a voice from in the shadows. Several stunners shot from around the room into Remus' half-transformed body, and Hermione wanted nothing more than to curl in on herself, with the restraints tightly sealed around her wrists however, all she could do was lower her head and hope she could block everything out. 

Unfortunately though, it wasn’t working. She sobbed as she heard the sounds of more bones cracking, and agonising screams.

If only she could get free…

‘’Now then...it seems we aren’t making much progress here, gentlemen." 

Hermione jolted upright. She was unable to see the man through the shadows but - she absently thought that his voice sounded a bit familiar. That drawl which straddled the line between some kind of casualness and boredom, it could only be…

Malfoy.

‘’There has to be emotion behind these spells, there has to be…no, there absolutely needs, to be… intent," he growled, stepping out into the torch-fuelled light, to make himself known.

Hermione’s eyes widened in shock as he raised his wand.

‘’Stupefy!" He shot more spells after the first, and they all hit in quick succession. After the ninth spell came into contact with Remus, he growled, and shot yet another stunner. This time, Hermione actually felt the silence, and she knew Malfoy had knocked Remus out cold.

While she was relieved Remus was no longer suffering, she was also filled with loathing at the way Malfoy casually stunned him, and her eyes burned with tears.

‘’Stun her, too. Be quick about it, for Merlin’s sake!" Malfoy demanded.

That was the last she heard before everything faded black.

vii

When Hermione came to, she found she was lying roughly on her side. The first thing she recalled was terror, but later on, she just felt confused and scared. Frightened like a small child who yearned to cling to their parents and have them tell her everything would be alright.

When she looked back on the events of her captivity, it felt like there was a blur in her memory - a gap that shouldn’t be there. Hermione shook her head and cringed as she felt an unpleasant feeling of uncertainty in her head. It somewhat reminded her of the time when she was still a little girl, and some new neighbours had moved in across the avenue. They had been very stuck-up but polite when needed- but the Grangers could immediately see how their relationship with them would play out. A petty, two-faced dynamic which would likely consist of slight jerky motions of their heads, an acknowledgement of each other in passing… It had left a feeling not unlike curdled milk upsetting her stomach. Like a black cloud finding its home over someone, it was… seemingly permanent. 

She did not know how much time had passed, but eventually, it came back to her in a flash, resulting in her closing her eyes tight. 

Hermione’s face blanched. Malfoy had been there. Stunners and hexes had been hurled at her and Remus. And oh, Harry- 

She dry heaved, the sounds ricocheting across one wall to another. After, Hermione wiped her mouth roughly and cringed at her actions and at the whole shitty, awful, miserable set of circumstances.

Remus had become so affected by grief over Harry’s death that he’d let the wolf take over - and it had nearly come to fruition, too. She remembered feeling a rage so profound that it washed over her like a tidal wave crashing about in a storm; it had settled deep into her bones - almost rattling them from their sockets.

_ It isn’t going to happen. No-one is going to come… No-one is going to come… No-one is-  _ The words repeated like a broken record. She imagined the words going higher in pitch, or perhaps lower. She might have laughed if the situation wasn’t so awful.

Hermione couldn’t pinpoint  _ when,  _ but she could tell that something had finally snapped somewhere deep inside. It felt as though something important had been wrung from her very being. Feeling unable to will the urge to guess what and from where it had left exactly, she decided that she simply did not care anymore. Hermione, the know-it-all, the bookworm, the brightest witch of her age, had died somewhere along the way. She mourned the loss of this aspect of what made her - well, her. This part of her that had previously been there, the broken gap agonisingly obvious thanks to how incomplete she felt. 

Eventually, she finally felt Remus' words from all that time ago, hit home. She curled up into as tight a ball as possible and felt tears escape her tightly-closed lids.

The tears were not enough. They simply gave way to something more.It started off as something bubbling in her chest, like a potion to which a incorrect ingredient had been added. Before she even knew it, too.

It continued to bubble; it was raw and unyielding in its endeavours to get to the surface - with a jolt Hermione realised she was just - too pent up, too taut like an elastic band on the verge of snapping - 

And then the screams came, and come they did. Reverberating in the small prison she and Remus shared.

Watching Hermione and especially her actions, his breath came in ragged gasps and he clenched his hands, his unkempt nails digging into his palms. The blood trickled slowly out of the crude, crescent-shaped holes and he closed his eyes in a forced sense of resignation. 

‘Shite, Hermione…" His quiet, broken and agonisingly-resigned voice was overwhelmed by Hermione’s screams and cries. It was as though he had never spoken.    

Having previously decided to leave Hermione be, he then realised that would no longer do. Remus moved towards her, only to be shoved away. Remus blinked, and stared at Hermione as she shook. He wanted badly to comfort her and take away her pain, but he knew that was mainly only something she could work through. Taking a chance, he inched toward her slowly. ‘Hermione,’ he uttered quietly.

‘I’m here,’ he started, as he got closer and closer. Hermione hadn’t reacted physically.

That was a good sign, Remus felt. Again, he wished he could ease her pain. But, Remus recalled, whenever he had been suffering, he always found that a hug from someone close to him helped. If only a little, because it was still something. 

Ignoring Hermione’s weak fists and instead focusing on her tears, he took her into his arms and held her close. Hermione froze for a moment and then slowly relaxed into the embrace.

viii

Somewhere down the line, Remus had given into all the feelings of grief, anger, despair, bitterness and disappointment. Bloodlust, an urge to wreak havoc, a cloak of darkness surrounded Remus. No, not Remus...not the man, but the wolf. It seemed that the wolf had taken over, if just for now.

The wolf, the dark, untamed aspect of Remus' person, his personality - he felt like he could finally stretch his claws - mentally and physically, for the first time in a very long time, and that was...greatly pleasing to him. It had been tough, but aided by the man’s grief, he had easily taken over - slithers of Remus' personality were all that was left. Despite this, he was trapped in the human’s body. He would have preferred to be in his true form but he supposed this would have to do.

He was suddenly achingly aware of another sensation; something separate to Remus' emotions. Snarling, he locked those away far inside his mind - they were merely a distraction after all - as he grasped the man’s - no, scratch that,  _ his _ stiff cock; it was almost painful, it was raw and throbbing and oh how he needed some release.

He’d been watching, waiting and biding his time for when he could come out and play, and Remus had finally given in and allowed him to do so… he wouldn’t waste this chance.

Precum dripped out of the weeping hole and he smeared it about the head as he lost himself in thoughts most feral.

As he rolled his head on his neck, he caught a mix of scents coming from a sleeping figure in the middle of the room he was in - a woman who slept fitfully, surrounded by grief, but she smelt… unique. 

Staggering as he got up, he sighed. This felt too weird. Admittedly, he preferred his werewolf form, to move about on his four legs, to feel, smell and taste the air, to - He stopped. He guessed this would have to do....using Remus' body, his two legs and his…parts.

He walked slowly, feeling the pain of Remus' body post-stunners shoot through him. He wanted to smell this woman for himself, to feel her hair, to…

Wild, chocolate locks were wrapped around his fingers, his hands and it felt so  _ right _ . He lowered his face to her neck, inhaling her scent. Mmm… his cock twitched within its confines again and he growled; a low, gravelly sound.

His thoughts ceased as he heard the woman mumble in her sleep. His ears pricked and he was immediately on alert. What was she saying? 

Leaning gently into her neck, he paused. 

‘Help...don’t want to...be here anymore… Hate this… Mum… Dad…" She jerked briefly, tears spilling from her eyes, even in sleep. He slowly moved away, his eyes staying trained on her. 

Sweat was visible on her forehead and if he stared at her fitful face long enough he could make out the telltale tracks of previous tears on her dirt covered features, dripping agonisingly slowly down it, onto the floor…

‘’No!" She screamed, her vocal cords sounding less damaged now, but still fraught with what he felt was far too much sadness, too much turmoil.

Feeling his more instinctual pressing matters subside to make way for concern - a foreign feeling to him - before he knew it he was back against her, leaning close to her face. To an outsider, it would have seemingly resembled a kiss, but those kinds of thoughts were far from his mind right now. Sighing sadly, feeling quite his fill of remorse, he brushed the woman’s hair away from her face. 

_ Hermione….  _

He leaned further in. Took a light breath. And then - then, he felt his nose touch her skin and he inhaled. She smelt… different, now. He found himself unable to identify the scents which mingled there but that was no matter, he supposed. All he knew from what he could taste in the air, was that this woman was sad, oh so sad... and he… he wished he could save her from it. 

Peering at her less-frantic form just for a moment, he saw that tears were still falling.

He licked the tears away.

_ I will save you from this hell, I promise.  _

ix

Hermione came to slowly, suddenly becoming aware of the feeling that she was being watched. She rubbed her eyes and looked around the cell blearily, her eyes soon coming to set on a deep amber pair not too far away from where she was sat.

‘R-remus?" She coughed. She still felt raw from the past few nights, her throat felt tender and she still felt vulnerable, to become prone to grief and deep turmoil whenever her thoughts strayed to… him. To Harry. 

‘‘Oh, god…" Hermione covered her face with her hands and wept.

‘Hermione…" Remus came over to her, his feet padding along the rough stone floor. He sat down slowly, wondering whether to offer comfort. A casual hug? A pat on the shoulder? No. Hmm. But, the fact remained that she needed comfort. Taking a shallow breath he inched toward her and reached out his arm.

‘Erm, I- If you, if you want, Hermione." He started, lamely. For once he seemed at a slight loss of what to say to the young witch. His arm was outstretched toward her in a gesture of kindness; Hermione mused internally. He was offering comfort, to be there for her. She thought it was selfless given the situation. In this circumstance, didn’t everyone want this? To be the one offered comfort? Yet, here he was, selflessly thinking of others first, of her first.

‘Remus. I..." Instead of offering senseless words, she inched herself toward Remus' open arm, feeling the warmth as she approached. He placed his arm around her, pulling her close. It was...nice.It was welcoming, filled with reassurance; and a twinge of pain. But…nice. She sighed, feeling a small amount of contentment even amongst this horrid circumstance. 

They stayed like that for an unending amount of time, savouring the feel of each other’s warmth and closeness. 

Nighttime came by again, the rays of the moonlight illuminated one window-like spot in the vague centre of the cell.

Hermione stirred, having been roused by the moon’s rays.

‘’Oh, it is...nighttime already. Ah. Merlin. The moon! Remus. Remus-" She gently shook the man beside her at first, but then became frantic. A few minutes later the man stirred, blinking and taking notice of the rays illuminating the prison they were in.

‘’Ah, shite. I’ve not been given any Wolfsbane yet, either. I guess the guards didn’t feel like it this month, the bastards…" Remus cursed, laughing bitterly. "But of course, that would be just like them, they seem to have some kind of game amongst them when it comes to this.’’

Remus paced about the floor, shaking his head, seemingly oblivious to Hermione’s worried stare.

Hermione bit the inside of her lip. She wouldn’t say anything out loud, but she was worried. The man had gone through a lot in his life and now this, to be cruelly restricted on his monthly potion, it was vile, barbaric. Merlin. Was it perhaps some kind of sick plan? Ugh. It wouldn’t surprise her.

‘’Remus...somehow, I… you know, that we’ll - we’ll get through this, okay?’’

He barked harshly as his head whipped around quickly to face her. But whatever sharp remark that he had been about to express fell by the wayside as he took in her worried expression. She didn’t appear worried for herself, she was worried for him.

‘’I… thanks, Hermione.’’ They sat there in different corners of their small occupied cell, unsure of what to say for a while. 

Remus sighed, again. Looking at Hermione intensely, he leaned his head on his clasped hands.  "I… I’d like you to listen, Hermione. Please. When I transform, I want you to stay in that corner you are in. Please. Try not to move much, if possible. It should mean that the wolf inside me won’t become too agitated. Please. For me. And especially for you. Please…’’ Hermione swallowed as she took in what Remus just requested of her. Staring back at him, taking in the display of sheer emotion displayed on his face, in his  _ eyes _ . Fuck, it was just so jarring and for a single moment, it made her heart stop. 

She nodded. "You have my word, Remus.’’ With that, the man’s shoulders slumped in relief and he smiled; a sad but ultimately relieved smile.

‘’Thank you very much, Hermione. That means a lot to me, you know." 

She nodded, again.

It was sometime later when Hermione snapped into awareness, no, consciousness, again - when had she fallen asleep? The sky was darker but the moonlight was just as prevalent as it had been before if not more so. Merlin. Hermione’s eyes sought the corner of the room where Remus had been sat - and was greeted by a very much awake, very much aware, and very furry werewolf.

Hermione felt all the hairs on her body stand on end, and a bead of sweat went down her back. She shuddered and froze, only moving her eyes around the room, scanning it; and her new cellmate.

“Please. Don’t hurt me. I’ll stay in my corner if y-you stay in yours. Re- Moony." She started, rather pathetically, she thought, hoping that maybe the old nickname might calm him..

The werewolf did not react. He simply continued to stare back at her, amber eyes roving over her body.

Hermione watched him with bated breath.

He blinked.

She continued to watch.

He moved a fraction of a bit forward. And sniffed the air.

Before Hermione was really aware of it - the wolf had started to move slowly across the room towards her still and stiff person.

Not wanting to aggravate the wolf, she stayed perfectly still, although on the inside she was panicking. Struggling not to start hyperventilating.

‘Re- Remus!" She cried softly as he got so close to her that she could feel the breath from his nostrils.

Her face went pale.

‘Please, Remus I know you’re in there some-" 

She went silent and her eyes widened as he nudged her face. Then, he… licked her cheek.

Oh god, this is the end...

Wait. Licked?

Then, he greatly surprised Hermione by leaning against her in a strange parody of an embrace; he nuzzled her neck and stayed still. 

Feeling Hermione’s heart rate slowly come down to a normal tempo, he nuzzled her again and again, hoping this would calm her.

He then growled and rumbled quietly, content as he realised this had indeed worked.

Seconds passed. Then, minutes. And after that, well, Hermione decided to pay the time no mind. She looked directly into the wolf’s eyes. Leaning forwards, she blinked briefly and a shadow of a smile appeared on her face. 

‘Thank you.. .Remus." Hermione said, later that night. She fell into a peaceful trance, absently stroking the soft fur of Remus’ coat as the night wore on. This was the most relaxed she had felt in this place and her mind felt sharper for it.

“Hey, Remus… I was just thinking. You don’t have to listen to me if you don’t want, this is just me rambling on with my thoughts after all. But… It suddenly occurred to me. Harry’s dead, so… why are we still being kept here? Surely they… would have come for us by now? Surely we," she coughed and continued, "should be dead too right?" 

Hermione fell silent, save for the occasional muttering of absent thoughts, trying to figure out what Voldemort’s plans for them were. There was no point in keeping them here was there?, Her gaze locked on the rough tiles on the floor as she processed.

The sky outside was now pitch black, the moon had set, but the sun was yet to rise and Remus had reverted to his human form. Even if Moony was still close to the surface. Hermione was sleeping fitfully and there was an uneasy silence permeating the atmosphere.

Out of nowhere, Remus jolted upright from his previous position - and Moony snarled.

x

Harried footsteps sounded on the stone floors that led to their prison and Remus growled again. Causing Hermione to stir and rub her eyes. 

"What on earth?" She asked as she looked in the direction of where the steps were coming from. Remus could only shake his head as he shrugged. Body tense as they waited.

Panting. They could hear panting, and they looked at one another in confusion. That was most unlike the Death Eaters, just  _ what  _ was going on?

Their musings were put to one side as a dark figure appeared before the cell door. It opened, revealing someone neither of them expected to ever see again.

‘S-Severus?! Why are you here!" Remus asked, moving so he stood in front of Hermione. 

“Professor  _ Snape? _ ” gasped Hermione.

Severus groaned and rubbed his temples, staring at the duo.

He hurriedly closed the door behind shouting a few crucio’s as he did so, shooting spells at the wall to the side of them. “Now then, it’s a long story and I do not have the luxury of sitting here with you both over some tea whilst I explain..." Severus sighed as he walked a few steps closer to both Remus and Hermione. Eventually he came to a stop, placing a hand on their shoulders.

‘’This is our situation. It’s...your situation, really. There is not a lot of time. I’ve stolen some bombs from Dolohov’s office - it’s what they used to blow up some villages and some… safe houses, recently. If we are lucky, we have about fifteen minutes to act. I’m going to get you both out of here as you’ve been here for far too long. Especially you, Remus." Severus finished, grabbing a black bag and handing it to him. 

“Here, this contains food, some money I smuggled. There is a few years of Wolfsbane here give or take, I always planned to keep supplying you with the stuff regardless. It’s all labelled with expiration dates so make sure to take them in order. There’s clothing for you, and for you… Miss Granger.," He grabbed a second bag; made in a similar fashion to the one Remus had been given. Handing it to Hermione who accepted it, wide-eyed, he looked up briefly. 

“...There’s clothing for you too. I stopped by in Bellatrix’s room and I stole some of her finest items, shall we say. There’s certain masks and such that make your true features undetectable, should that be needed. The same goes for you, Remus. In your bag. Ah-hem. Anyway, yes. There’s polyjuice potions, there’s muggle money... " Severus smirked at Remus and Hermione’s dumbfounded expressions.

“Severus, I don’t…" ‘Did I mention both of these bags have endless... undetectable… extension charms placed on them?’

Hermione gasped, examining her red bag. "I-"  

“Save it, I also have two wands here as well. I managed to salve the remains, I took them to a master wand maker and had him repair them for you." He finished, handing the pair their repaired wands back.

Hermione was crying now as she was reunited with her wand. Overcome with gratitude, she flung her arms around Severus, who rolled his eyes.

“Yes yes, you’re very welcome. Really." He replied gruffly, as he gently pushed her away. 

Remus could only grin at the display before his eyes, his eyes watery as well.

Hermione smiled weakly at Severus as she wiped her eyes with the cuff of her mangy jacket.

Remus took a step toward Severus and blinked. "Severus. I… Thank you so very much, we’ll never forget this for the rest of our lives." He clapped him on the shoulder and nodded.

“See to it that you won’t wolf…" He smirked. 

Throwing some more items at the pair and placing boots at each of their feet, Severus then turned around. Waving a hand in the air, he explained. "Some clothing for you to both change into now, and dragonhide boots. Make the most of them. They’ll adjust to fit." 

Remus and Hermione could only gawp, wide-eyed, as they hurriedly complied. Looking at their previous items of clothing, Severus turned back around. "Oh, those? Don’t worry. I’ll burn them.  _ Incendio _ ." The offending items turned to ash. He nodded in satisfaction, and grinned at the pair, before becoming serious again.

“Now then, we should get moving - we only have ten minutes left to pull this off.’

xi

Ringing was all Remus could hear, and as for the witch in his arms, he could only wonder what had been going through her mind beforehand. She’d been caught in some crossfire as their escape went awry. But, still, they had made it this far. He had to keep going. He shuddered as his knees nearly buckled. Looking behind him for a split second he could see endless amounts of smoke - so it had worked, then. It had really worked!

More explosions sounded, but he paid them no mind. He had to keep running. It was all he could do at this point. 

He had never felt so exhausted in his life and yet, he had to keep running, for his sake and especially for hers. Hundreds of trees passed him and Hermione by as he ran, things would be faster in his werewolf form but… Hermione was currently unconscious, there could be potential for a problem, so he had to settle for holding her in his arms bridal style as continued on. His legs, his feet, his lungs, Merlin, how everywhere burned! 

He drew on the wolf’s inner power and hoped it could aid him somewhat in this time of need.

Eventually - there was silence - and they’d come to a clearing… no, a… beach? The sun was starting to set and it provided a lovely backdrop, if only the situation they were currently in matched it. But, alas. 

As Remus took this new scenery in, he felt as though he had entered another world. He shuddered as he held the battered, unconscious woman - friend - no, Hermione, in his arms. Looking down at her, he wanted to cry at the state she had ended up in. His throat burned with the inevitable result of post smoke inhalation; he wanted to scream at the unfairness of how everything had turned out in the end. 

They were supposed to get through this, they were supposed to escape!

To hell with that, they would escape and he would stop at nothing, let no means hold him - hold them back from achieving those means.

Closing his weary eyes he focused on Hermione’s still form, and waited.

After a lifetime, he could hear...ah, wait, scratch that. He could detect something, that much was certain.

_ Thump… Thump… Thump.  _

A long pause.

_ Thump… Thump…- _

Remus bit his lip with such ferocity that blood bubbled out of the puncture holes he inflicted on them.

‘Fuck, Hermione, Hermione, Hermione, Hermio-" He snarled and gripped her to him harder than before, if that were possible.

She was moments from death, with each thump of her heart he knew that time would decrease, from minutes, to seconds, to- 

Merlin, he didn’t want to entertain that.

He couldn’t let Severus down after getting this far. He shook himself- hard, he became stoic with a sense of duty, of firm resolution.

Suddenly, Remus knew what he had to do. Resolved he gently lay her down on the dry grass which seemed to surround them. Deciding it best to not think at the moment, he shut off his mind. 

‘Don’t think, Remus. Just do. Just feel…" He shook his head wildly from side to side and then he leaned closer to Hermione, brushing her hair out of her face. This action was familiar and it soothed him, thinking of times when things had been dire, but conversation flowed easily enough given their circumstances. 

He could only hope that she’d forgive him for what he was planning to do. No, what he’d decided to do, and what he would follow through with. 

Maybe this was also for him, too. Could he really be so selfish as to think…

“Get it together, Remus…" 

Remus bit his bottom lip again, and gazed at her. She looked so peaceful. 

And he was about to change that. 

He closed his eyes as he leaned into her, his forehead brushing against the underside of her jaw… Her skin felt cold. 

Remus felt a jarring sensation go down his back and he shuddered.

Focusing, he willed his teeth to grow longer, to grow sharper, until…. There. That was perfect.

Perfect, how ironic, for things were anything but ‘perfect’. No, he couldn’t let his bitter temper get the better of him, not now in this situation which required… absolute calm.

He moved the ribbed hem of her round t-shirt collar away from her jugular with a feeling of unwanted familiarity. He opened his mouth and licked the skin, slowly.

‘Forgive me Hermione…" Remus whispered.

And with that whispered prayer, he bit into her neck.

Remus slowly backed away slowly, soon leaning back against a tree. As he took in Hermione’s back arching in an unnatural manner, he cringed; but did not avert his eyes. He could only hope that this went smoothly.  

xii

The full moon gave way to a bright summer’s morning, and their forms reverted back to what was most familiar to each of them. Human skin, a preferred lack of fur and finally; rational thoughts rather than being ruled by instincts. They laid there nude near the clear blue ocean, not yet wanting to let go of the soothing water lapping against their bodies - their clothing folded neatly on nearby tree branches. 

As nighttime fell yet again and the stars twinkled in the clear night sky, they tiredly held one another, each being reassured by the other’s presence.

Remus turned to Hermione and stared at her. "Hermione. Way back then... When I said that to you… that I would protect you...I meant it." He finished, closing his eyes as he savoured this feeling.

‘I know," she replied, moving slightly closer. “Believe me Remus, I know… I think I have always known." She spoke again, her head drooping on his shoulder as sleep overtook her

Remus smiled softly.

They had been through so much, divided and somehow united, but now; they felt at home. 

They were home.

 


End file.
